Its Friday Now, But Its Almost Sunday

April 6, 2012

I woke up this morning to find this set as the status on a very good friend of mine’s Facebook page. I don’t know if the quote is originally her’s but it really sums up Holy Week and in particular the Pascal Triduum quite well doesn’t it. Throughout this week we have marched from Christ’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to his death on the cross on Good Friday.

Title Page from my MTF Daily Roman Missal

The Pascal Triduum is the most holy time of the year. We start on Holy Thursday when we celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. This mass has just as much symbolism as any of the Liturgical Year. Not only do we celebrate the Eucharist as Christ instructed us, on the anniversary of its institution, but the priest also washes the feet of men from the parish in the same way that Jesus washed the feet of the apostles to prepare them for the priesthood. The Holy Thursday mass culminates with the Eucharist being removed from the tabernacle and the alter is stripped of its cloth.

This leads to Good Friday, which is the only day of the year in which no mass is celebrated. The tabernacle is still empty awaiting our risen Lord at the Easter Vigil. Parishes will traditional celebrate good Friday with a service and Veneration of the Cross.

It isn’t until the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday after the new Pascal Candle is dedicated and blessed that we can once again receive the Eucharist. Only this time we receive it with our newly baptized and confirmed brothers and sisters who have finished their faith formation in RCIA.

From my 1961 Saint Joseph Daily Missal

So it is indeed Friday now. As I write this I am getting ready to leave for an outdoor celebration of The Way of the Cross. It is noon. Our Lord is on the cross. In a few hours he will breath his last breath. There was no mass this morning. There is now Eucharist to adore. Soon, however it will be Sunday and we will again celebrate with our Lord.